


Transcendence of the Pines

by PickleWitch



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pines will be Pines (Gravity Falls), Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Asthma, Blood, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 19:51:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PickleWitch/pseuds/PickleWitch
Summary: When Toby accidentally ends up in the Pines will be Pines universe it's up to Alcor to save him, but not before meeting some very familiar faces. With secret truths left unsaid trust will be hard to come by. A darkness is closing in on the Pines and they must work together with Alcor to solve the mystery before it is to late.





	1. Ice Cream Sadness

The day started out normal enough. After waking Toby up for school and insuring his safe departure, Alcor blipped himself back into the mindscape to spend some down time with his flock of nightmare and dream sheep. Alcor was just sitting down to pet Erschie when he felt the familiar tug of a summons. Sighing he let himself be pulled towards the summons leaving his flock behind. As a powerful immortal demon Alcor wondered if it was too much to ask for a day off to just chill with his flock.

By the time it came to pick up Toby from the high school Alcor had already dealt with three summons of varying degrees of importance, though the last one had left his suit a bit stained from the blood of the foolish who had tried to bargain with living human sacrifices. Today was supposed to be a nice calm day, with the added bonus of Toby treating Alcor to ice cream at the newest ice cream parlor that just opened up last week. With school day almost over for Toby Alcor would have to hurry to meet him at the school, so that he could get the ice cream that was promised to him. Quickly Alcor used his powers to shift his form in order to clean off the blood and change his appearance to that of the human guardian of Toby “Tyrone Pines.” His appearance now was that of a clean shaven young man in his late twenties with messy brown hair, brown eyes, and average height. This was the Dipper Pines that the eternal twelve-year-old could only dream were possible (not that he could dream), before the whole transcendence fiasco that turned him into a demon.

Departing from the house he shared with Toby, Alcor proceeded to walk down the street heading to the school two blocks away. Alcor arrived at the school a few minutes later only to discover that Toby was not at their agreed upon meeting spot in front of the school. While strange this was not unusual for the boy, as occasionally he would get so wrapped up in homework that he would forget all about the time. Resolving to visit the student office to have the receptionist make an announcement inquiring for Toby’s presence at the front of the school, “Tyrone Pines” headed inside the school building.

On his way to the office Alcor spotted one of Toby’s teachers and decided to ask the man if he had seen Toby around.

“Excuse me, Mr. Gallagher I’m Toby Pines’ guardian Tyrone Pines have you seen Toby recently? I was supposed to pick him up from school today.”

“Mr. Pines, no I have not seen Toby he was absent from my class today,” Mr. Gallagher grumbled back as if Toby’s absence had offended him.

“What?! But, I know that he went to class!” shouted Alcor. It was very unlike Toby to miss class, unless…oh no.

“Well he wasn’t here today,” Mr. Gallagher responded, a bit surprised by Tyrone’s outburst.

At this point Alcor knew something was very wrong. Toby would never miss class the only exceptions to this were medical emergencies in the case of his asthma or the far more likely case of cult abduction.

Quickly thanking the man Dipper left the school building. Walking briskly down the street and ducking into an ally way so that he was out of sight, he then proceeded blip back into mindscape taking on his more demonic appearance. His eyes regained their golden glow, his teeth became shark-like again, his ears regained their point, his hands and feet regaining their claws, and his demonic wings reappeared on his lower back. Now dressed in his black tailored suit with his top hat floating just above his head Alcor began to reach out with his semi-omniscience attempting to locate the soul of his once most hated enemy Bill. After searching for a good hour he was left at a loss, Toby was not anywhere on Earth. So where could he be? Alcor widened he search to the limits of his omniscience, and just as he was starting to give up hope of finding the boy he felt the distant presence of the mark that he had placed on Toby for his protection. Toby was not on this earth, instead he had somehow landed himself in another dimension entirely. He had been looking forward to the ice cream parlor trip that Toby had promised him, but now it looked as if the kid’s never ending bad luck had just dealt the boy yet another foul hand.

Tracing the mark Alcor was able to locate the tear that Toby must have fallen through to reach the other dimension. Sighing deeply the demon took the plunge, tearing open the rift to follow after his foolish charge.


	2. Tears in the Universe

As he opened his eyes he found himself surrounded on all sides by fire. Panicking he began to search with his one good eye for any way out of the suffocating heat that was threatening to engulf him. The flames continued to rise higher cutting off any possibility of escape. It was now becoming increasingly harder for him to breath, as he felt that his lungs were trapped within a strong vice grip hyperventilating at the thought of his eminent death. As he began to curl his body into the fetal position awaiting the worst, he was startled as he heard a voice calling out to him.  
“Toby!”  
Thinking that he had imagined it Toby continued to grip his arms around his legs, tears streaming down his face.  
“Toby!”  
The voice called out his name once again and as its sound echoed his world began to shift around him. From the darkness that surrounded him a bright light burst forth. Shielding his eyes from the light with his arm he shut his eyes to keep the light from blinding him. As he slowly adjusted his good eye to the new light source, he finally was able to open his eyes to discover that he was now in a large green valley surrounded by hills. The sun shone brightly in the sky, and calming sounds of nature surrounded him along with a multitude of baas and bleats from the large flock of sheep that occupied the valley. Slowly the white sheep approached him laying down on the grass in front of him. With the new calming atmosphere Toby was able to breath normally again, and it was with steady breaths that he reached out to pet the soft wool of the sheep in front of him. The sheep accepted his touch snuggling up against him. A smile broke out upon his face as he began to hug the sheep burying his head within the soft wool. Thinking that he had just found the best pillow in the world he closed his eyes, safe and secure within the flock of sheep. Feeling now that nothing could tear him from the calming flock he suddenly heard a loud beeping noise. The valley faded from view as he woke up to his bedroom alarm.  
Reaching out his arm he shut off the alarm. Continuing to stretch himself out while yawning. As he took stock of his surroundings he was surprised to find Alcor floating just to the right of his bed.  
“Alcor, you didn’t have to wake me up,” Toby stated a bit confused by Alcor’s presence.  
“The alarm did that, I just came to insure that you haven’t forgotten our promise,” Alcor responded in a business-like manner.  
Thinking on this he remembered that today was the day he had promised to take Alcor to the new ice cream parlor that had opened up, The King’s Scoop. While Alcor probably didn’t remember, it was his help that had allowed Toby to pass his midterms last month and Toby had wanted to repay him with his favorite treat of ice cream. Still there had to be more of a reason for Alcor’s presence in his room. If this was just about his promise, Alcor would have reminded him before he went to school. So then why give him such an early reminder? Then he remembered his dream. Now it made sense.  
“I haven’t forgotten it, and thank you.”  
“For what? ...I haven’t done anything,” Alcor stammered out his voice slightly cracking.  
“For giving me a nice dream, thanks.”  
“Well don’t think too much into this. I just didn’t want you hyperventilating in your sleep,” Alcor quickly said while not bothering to hide the blush now visible on his face.  
Toby chuckled slightly, and thanked him again. Alcor made the motion of clearing his throat telling him to get ready for school, leaving him alone in his room to get changed for the new day. Throwing the covers off of himself Toby proceeded to get out of his bed heading over to his dresser to get changed into some casual clothes for school. Now dressed in a blue t-shirt and khakis he headed to the bathroom to wash up.  
As he flipped on the bathroom light he headed over to the sink washing his face and fixing his hair in the mirror. Grabbing his eyepatch off the sink countertop, he proceeded to place it over his blind left eye letting his blond hair fall on top of it covering up the majority of the left side of his face. Now looking at himself through his sole working blue eye he smiled at his appearance, all the while looking forward to his trip with Alcor to The King’s Scoop after school.  
As he headed downstairs he spotted Alcor in his Tyrone disguise making him breakfast in the kitchen.  
“I’m making you some pancakes, so go ahead and put together your bag lunch while you waiting,” Alcor said pouring some batter into a pan.  
Toby nodded his head in agreement grabbing himself some bread as he started to make himself a sandwich. Once he was finished making his lunch he headed into the dining room to eat the pancakes that had already been placed on the table. After eating Toby looked at the clock to discover that if he didn’t leave soon he would be late for school. Quickly brushing his teeth in the upstairs bathroom and grabbing his shoulder bag from his room placing it over his shoulder, he then continued to head to the front door grabbing his lunch and stuffing it into his bag. Wishing Alcor a final farewell he headed out the door.  
The high school was only two blocks away from his house, so as long as he didn’t get distracted he would arrive with plenty of time to spare. As he walked down the city street on his way to the school he spotted someone he was very familiar with. Crouched down a few feet in front of him was his adoptive father Alcor disguised as his human self “Tyrone Pines”. Toby started to scratch his head in confusion at the sudden appearance of his father, when he had just left him behind at the house. He started to call out for him only to stop abruptly when he saw something very unusual about the man in front of him. He was see through!  
The ghostly Tyrone sat crouched down in the middle of the sidewalk holding what appeared to be a see through book. Still startled by the ghostly version of his father, but no less curious Toby proceed to call out to the man in a soft, hesitant tone.  
“Mr. Pines...Dad…is that you?”  
As much as Toby knew Alcor didn’t like being referred to as his father, seeing him in this ghostly form had left Toby greatly concerned for his father’s well being. Though, no sooner had Toby spoken these words that the man flinched slightly, and just as Toby attempted to reach out to him the ghostly Tyrone took off like a bolt of lightning running as if his life depended on it.  
Thinking that he had perhaps offended him Toby chased after his guardian wanting to apologize for calling him his dad. Not only that Toby was worried about him. What had happened to make him ghostly like that?  
Still chasing after the ghostly apparition of his father Toby felt as if he was fighting a losing battle. No matter how fast he tried to run it was obvious that the man was faster than him, though with his overall lack of physical ability that wasn’t very surprising. Instead, Toby real concern was for the possibility that his asthma would act up, and while he did have his inhaler in his bag any further running would only put him at more risk for an attack. Toby was only just keeping pace with the ghostly Tyrone when the ghost suddenly took a sharp right turn into an ally way. Not wanting to lose him Toby continued to run taking the turn just as sharply only to suddenly come face to face with what appeared to be a giant red tear in space. Unable to stop himself in time he fell head first into the tear not knowing just what horrors might await him beyond the red void.

********************************************************

Dipper always looked forward to the summer and not just for the good weather. Ever since that fateful summer all those years ago it became tradition for him, Wendy, Mabel, and their children Phoebe, Gladys, and Finn to visit Gravity Falls, Oregon every summer. Having just arrived at the Shack for the annual summer vacation, the now much larger Pines family piled out of the vehicles that they had arrived in. Grabbing his luggage Dipper proceeded to head inside the building, only to be mildly surprised when a large six-fingered hand grabbed him by the shoulder.  
“Dipper, I’m glad you’re here follow me down to my office. I have many new discoveries I want to share with you,” Grunkle Ford enthusiastically announced as he released Dipper’s shoulder.  
“Grunkle Ford, I was about to spend some time with Mabel and the rest of the family, but if that’s the case then…”  
“Don’t worry about us dude, go ahead and enjoy some nerd time with Ford we’ll still be here when you get back,” Wendy said interrupting Dipper after she noticed his hesitance to leave the rest of the family behind.  
“Thanks Wendy, you’re the best.”  
As much as he loved hanging out with Mabel and his niece and nephew Gladys and Finn, he couldn’t pass up the chance to hang out with Grunkle Ford again after so long apart.  
“Yeah Bro-Bro don’t worry about us, and besides with you gone I’ll have the perfect chance to spend some quality girl time with my favorite sister-in-law.” Mabel enthusiastically stated as she held up a V-sign sporting a huge grin on her face as she moved out from behind Wendy, luging her large suitcase filled to the brim with sweaters just behind her.  
“Uncle Dippuh, what about us? I thought you said you would play with us?” said a very upset sounding Gladys as she showed off the biggest pout she could manage.  
“Yeah, you promised!” Finn chimed in sounding disappointed.  
Seeing the looks on his niece and nephew Dipper was forced into reconsidering hanging out with Ford. They looked just like two mini versions of Mabel, and that fact alone made it almost impossible for him to say no to them. Thankfully his wife Wendy came to his rescue.  
“Well how about instead you two come with me, Mabel, and Phoebe for some real fun. Now who’s up for a trip to the mall?”  
Immediately forgetting all about their earlier disappointment, the two twins jumped up and down in excitement clearly wanting to go on this trip to the mall.  
“I think I’ve got this handled Dipper. Now go have fun with Ford. Oh, and don’t worry about Stan I’ll be sure to drag him along on our trip to the mall.”  
Thanks again, Wendy,” Dipper said as he kissed wife on the cheek, looking fondly at the young Phoebe hanging out by Wendy’s legs.  
“No prob., hurry up and go. I can already see the impatience radiating off of Ford.”  
Looking at Grunkle Ford he discovered the Wendy was right, as Ford wore a very impatient look on his face crossing his arms as he continuously tapped his foot on the wood floor in front of the vending machine.  
“Sorry about the wait Grunkle Ford.”  
“Yes, well follow me downstairs,” Ford said as he punched in the code to the vending machine.  
The machine swung forward as Ford proceeded to walk down the staircase heading to the elevator that led to his office. Dipper followed after his Grunkle not wanting to be left behind.  
He soon arrived at Ford’s office pulling up a chair and sitting down seeing that Ford had already sat down in his own chair. Now that they were both seated, Ford began to tell him all about the various creatures and artifacts that had found during their time apart. After chatting with his Grunkle for multiple hours it was clear to Dipper just how much of Gravity Falls still remained a mystery. Looking at the time he decided to call it a night. Ford had apparently lost track of the time during their long chat, as he was quick to apologize to Dipper for keeping him up so late.  
“No, it’s partly my fault for not keeping track of the time. I’m going to head upstairs to get some sleep. You coming?”  
“Yes, I much prefer falling asleep on a soft bed rather than a hard desk.” Chuckled the now very tired Ford.  
Taking the elevator back upstairs with Ford, Dipper wished his Grunkle a good night’s sleep before heading to his own bed which already held a sleeping Wendy in it. Crawling into bed next to Wendy he attempted to get some sleep, only to find it elusive. His thoughts were still on the stories that Ford had told him. If Ford had been able to find this many new things while he’d been gone, it meant that Gravity Falls still contained a whole lot more mystery than what he originally would have thought possible. Resolving to get an early start next morning to begin exploring the forest in an attempt to get to the bottom of the mysteries still surrounding Gravity Falls, Dipper finally was able to find the restful sleep he needed.  
The next morning, he woke up before anyone else eager to explore the surrounding forest. After grabbing himself a quick breakfast Dipper was soon out the door lugging his backpack over his shoulder, having left behind a note for his family stating that he would be back by lunch.  
Dipper wasted no time heading into the forest that surrounded the Mystery Shack, deciding that any new mysteries would most likely be found deep in the Gravity Falls forest. He had wanted to bring Mabel on his adventure, but he didn’t want to drag her into this when she had the twins and their safety to worry about.  
After about a half hour trek into the woods Dipper finally found himself in the deep woods. This finally was his chance to discover something new before his Grunkle Ford the author of the Journals could. Observing his surroundings Dipper began looking for anything strange or unusual in the densely forested area. After a few minutes of careful observation, he finally found something. Just in front of the entrance to a medium sized cave stood a small wooden totem depicting an unusual creature with four eyes and six tails. While he had no idea what significance the totem held, he was sure that this was a new discovery as it was not depicted or mentioned in any of Ford’s journals.  
Pulling his own journal out of his backpack along with a pen Dipper started to sketch out a drawing of the strange totem. Crouching down with his back to the cave he continued the sketch it out, being as detailed as possible.  
Suddenly as he was about to finish his drawing Dipper heard a loud animalistic growl coming from the cave just behind him. He flinched at the sound knowing that whatever resided in that cave was far from friendly. Not giving the unknown creature the chance to attack Dipper took off running, not bother to look back.  
Now running as fast as he possibly could he knew that the creature wasn’t far behind from its cries that followed closely after him. He was never a very good runner, but now that his life was on the line he felt as if he could give an Olympic runner a run for their money.  
He now had put some distance between him and the creature, but he still hadn’t lost him. Taking a sharp right turn in an attempt to lose the creature for good he face-planted on the ground after tripping over something at his feet. Quickly scrambling to his feet he looked back the way he came to discover that he had indeed lost the creature. Taking deep breaths to calm his overexerted heart, he looked to the ground in search of whatever had tripped him up. He soon found the culprit in a small stone monolith that had golden five-pointed star imbedded into it, which was now cracked in the center due to him tripping over it. Placing his hand over the crack he was surprised as the crack started to glow red and heat up. Quickly dropping the hot stone Dipper watched as the red crack grew wider and wider until it expanded beyond the stone cracking open a six-foot-tall opening in the fabric of reality.  
Dipper looked at the crack with pure dread, knowing just how eerily similar it was to the one that Bill had used to cause the Weirdmageddon. Was Bill trying to come back through that crack? And, if so then was he going to be held responsible for the return of Weirdmageddon?  
As these questions continued to swim in Dipper’s head the crack continued to glow brighter and brighter forcing Dipper to shield his eyes from it. Straining to still keep his eyes barely opened, he watched as a human male fell through the crack hitting his head on the ground as he fell. The young male then slowly sat himself up rubbing his head, and as he did this Dipper watched as the crack closed up behind him. Cautiously Dipper began to approach the man who appeared to be human, though his doubts made him think otherwise. What if this was Bill in disguise out for round two?  
As if sensing Dipper’s approach the young man looked up at Dipper making eye contact. He had a confused look on his face as he looked at Dipper through his one blue eye (as the other one remain concealed under his thick blond hair).  
“Al…cor?” was the only word he said before fainting, falling to the ground with a soft thud.


	3. Questions Asked

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Dipper tried to collect his thoughts on what had just happened. What exactly was that crack that had opened up? While it was true the crack had been similar to the one that had appeared in the sky above Gravity Falls when the rift was broken, it wasn’t exactly the same. Unlike the rift crack which had to be forced closed, this one closed itself up on its own soon after dropping off the unconscious young man. It was also shaped differently resembling a large red eye opening sideways, instead of the four-pointed star he was familiar with. Speaking of stars, what was the significance of the golden five-pointed star that he had seen on the stone monolith?

As he was thinking this he began to search the ground for what remained of the small stone monolith. Eventually finding it close to the unconscious teen broken into five different pieces, though the golden star was no longer visible on any of the five pieces.

Quickly reconstructing the small monolith to the best of his ability, he discovered that there was a large hole where the star used to be. Was the star destroyed when the crack opened up? More importantly, why did the star heat up and crack when he touched it?

Dipper now had more questions than answers. Scratching his head in frustration, he decided to focus his attention on the unconscious young man. Going by the boy’s appearance he looked to be in his mid to late teens’ wearing a blue t-shirt and khakis with a large shoulder bag slung over his left shoulder. The teen had ended up face down on the ground after fainting, still unconscious after his fall through the crack in space. Though Dipper still had his doubts about the young teen, he couldn’t just let the young man stay face down like that. Picking him up and leaning him up against a nearby tree Dipper attempted to rouse the teen, only to fail miserably.

Quickly checking the young man’s pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering the man’s steady pulse and the slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Dipper then proceeded to check the teen for any visible injuries. Not finding any wounds on the boy’s body he continued to check the boy’s face for and cuts or bruises. The teen had blond hair which covered up the majority of his face, and it was only when dipper checked the teen’s face that he discovered that the boy’s left eye was covered up by an eye patch. 

Something about this teen felt very familiar to him, but he knew that he had never met him before. The teen had just come out of a crack similar to the rift crack, so maybe that crack had led back to the Nightmare Realm? If that was the case, he may very well be a demon in disguise. And what if that demon was Bill? No, he and his family had worked too hard to stop Bill and his apocalypse and Bill should still be trapped in the Nightmare Realm. This was just his fears getting the better of him.

The boy was human as far as he could tell, and Bill would be very unlikely to take on a human disguise as he had always felt that humans were weak. This may have also been a ploy by Bill to make him let down his guard, but if that was the case he failed the moment the teen fell through the rift. Finally, the biggest strike against Dipper’s theory was the fact that the boy had called him Alcor, not Pine Tree as Bill would have. Dipper had no idea who this “Alcor” was, but it was clear that this teen was not Bill.

Having resolved some of his more pressing questions calming himself down from his initial panic, Dipper realized that the teen had not woken up yet. Worried for the young man’s health and realizing that there would be no medical help for the boy this deep in the woods, Dipper resolved himself to carry the teen on his back on what would be a half hour trek back to the Mystery Shack.

After placing what remained of the small stone monolith inside of his bag for Ford to analyze later, he then situated his backpack to the front of his chest. Keeling down in front of the unconscious teen Dipper awkwardly picked the teen up. The teen was lighter than he had expected, though the boy’s bag added about twenty pounds to his overall weight. Even so the teen’s weight was manageable and soon Dipper was trekking through the forest at a leisurely pace. As he walked he was reminded of the time he carried his pregnant wife Wendy at breakneck pace through this very same forest just a few years ago. At the time he surprised even himself at his ability to lift his wife who had been in labor at the time. Comparatively speaking the teen’s weight was nothing compared to the weight that he had lifted only on pure adrenaline and sheer force of will all those years ago.

After little over a half hour the Shack was finally in view, though by this point he was sweating due to the continued exertion of lifting a person over such a long distance. As he walked out of the forest he spotted Finn, Gladys, and Mabel playing in the front yard.

“Hey DipDop, how did the grand solo adventure go? Back early cause you realized you needed the full power of the Mystery Twins? You know we work better together…than…apart…” Mabel said only to stop abruptly when she saw the teen on Dipper’s back.

“Who is that? Is he okay?” Mabel asked as she slowly approached Dipper and the unconscious teen, with the twins Gladys and Finn following close behind her.

“Is he a new fwiend uncle Dippeh?” asked a curious Gladys.

“I’m not sure Gladys. I found him passed out in the woods. Mabel, he may need some medical attention as well. I’m going to put him in Grunkle Ford’s room for now.” Dipper said as he continued to walk himself and the young teen into the Mystery Shack.

Mabel nodded her head in agreement following after her bother with the twins in tow.

Dipper set the young man down on Ford’s couch placing the teen’s shoulder bag on the floor near the couch. He then grabbed his own bag that still held the remnants of the stone monolith, intending to talk to Ford about the strange circumstances of the teens arrival. Leaving his sister and the twins behind with the unconscious teen, Dipper proceeded to head towards the basement elevator only to meet Ford in the hallway.

“Grunkle Ford, can I talk to you for a bit?”

“First, would you mind telling me who you just dropped off in my room?” asked Ford.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Dipper said as he walked into the living room to continue his chat with Ford. As he entered the room he spotted Stan, Wendy, and Phoebe enjoying some Gravity Falls public access television.

“Hey, kid. The latest episode of Ducktective is comin' on. You wanna join us?” asked Grunkle Stan in his gruff voice.

“Yeah dude, join me and Phoebe for some quality Gravity Falls programming. Apparently in this episode Ducktective will be working with his rival Loontective to solve a locked room murder case,” Wendy stated enthusiastically.

“As fun as that sounds I have more pressing concerns. Namely the unconscious teen that I just found passed out in the forest.” Dipper said in a daze still bewildered by the events of the past half hour. 

“What? What happened?” Wendy quickly asked in response.

“That’s the problem! I’m not sure what happened! The teen just fell out of a rift! That’s why I wanted to get Grunkle Ford’s opinion on what happened.”

Dipper then proceeded to explain the events that led up to this point to all those present. Leaving out his earlier suspicions about the boy being Bill, not wanting his Grunkle Ford to worry over nothing.

“Wait, so this kid fell out of nowhere?” asked an incredulous Wendy.

“No, a rift. Grunkle Ford have you ever heard of a rift that would close itself up?”

“No I’m afraid I haven’t, and from the way you described it I doubt it was actually a rift. You said you brought along the remains of the stone monolith that opened up the crack?”

“Yes it’s in my pack,” Dipper said as he handed the backpack to Ford.

“Ok, I’ll analyze that in my lab downstairs. In the meantime, we will just have to wait for the teen to wake up in order to get his side of the story,” Grunkle Ford said as he began to walk towards the vending machine, intent on immediately examining the strange stone that Dipper had found. Only to be stopped as he along with everyone else heard Mabel singing to them from Ford’s room.

“Hey Guys, our new friend has woken up!”

****************************************************************

As soon as he woke up, he felt his head pounding from a headache. To relieve the pain, he lifted up his hand to massage his aching head slowly opening his eyes as he did so. The headache was making it hard for him to focus his one good eye, but he was soon able to make out his surroundings discovering that he was in a small wood paneled room with an attached en-suite bathroom on the far side of the room. His vision was quickly obstructed however, when two young children decided to climb on top of the couch he was laying on effectively blocking his view of the room. 

“Mommy, he opened his eyes!” announced the young girl wearing a headband that had springy antennas attached to it.

“Yeah, Mr. Sleepyhead is rubbing his head too!” said the identical young boy standing next to her.

The mother of the two then stepped out of the en-suite bathroom holding a wet washcloth in her hand. She then placed washcloth on his forehead and proceeded to introduce herself and the two children that had just stepped off the couch.

“Hi! I’m Mabel and these are my kiddos Finn and Gladys.” Mabel said showing off the biggest smile she could muster.

“What’s your name Mr. Sleepyhead?” questioned the boy that Mabel had introduced as Finn.

“It’s Toby, but where am I?”

“You're in the Mystery Shack, of course! Don't worry, you'll get a tour later. But first, let's get you introduced to the rest of the family!” said an enthusiastic Mabel as she called in the rest of her family.

His headache was already starting to fade as Mabel’s family entered the room, and soon Toby found himself surrounded by unfamiliar faces. Save for the man that he had met in the forest just before he passed out. He looked completely identical to the Alcor he knew and loved, save for the small goatee on his chin. Was that really Alcor? He wasn’t even wearing his suit! Though he was still unsure as to whether this man was really his adoptive father, he still hesitantly called out to the man.

“Tyrone…is that really you?”

At his words everyone shared a confused look, save for the man he had addressed who suddenly looked embarrassed for some reason. The man was about to say something only to be interrupted by Mabel.

“Nope, this my brother Dipper. Dipper meet Toby the Sleepyhead.”

“Um…hi. I see you’ve already met my sister Mabel. You might as well meet the rest of the family. The redhead to my right is my wife Wendy and this is my daughter Phoebe,” Dipper said as he motioned to the young toddler that looked almost identical to her mother. The girl held tight grasp on her father’s pant leg as she looked curiously at the new stranger in their home.

“I guess I might as well introduce myself now, I’m Stan,” said the old man who wore a red fez on his head. “The stick in the mud next to me is my brother Ford,” Stan said as he pointed to the man in a trench coat who appeared to be his twin.

As Stan said this Ford’s gaze became intense, as he looked at Toby with eyes that seemed to judge his very existence. Toby felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and was greatly relieved when Stan came to his rescue.

“Lighten up Ford. You’re scaring the kid,” Stan said as he elbowed Ford in his side.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I was just curious as to how you ended up in the Gravity Falls forest.”

“I’m in Gravity Falls!” he said as quickly sat up surprised to be in Gravity Falls. A town that’s known worldwide as the epicenter to the events that led up to the Transcendence over a thousand years ago.

“Yes, you are. Were you not aware of this?” Ford said in a voice that betrayed a bit of confusion at his apparent surprise.

“Well no, last I checked I wasn’t anywhere near Gravity Falls.”

“Then how did you end up in Gravity Falls dude?” Wendy asked him.

“Well I was heading for school, at least that was until I spotted a strange ghostly image of my guardian Tyrone Pines. Who strangely enough looked almost identical to you,” he said as he pointed to the man who went by the name of Dipper.

“He looked like me?” Dipper said as Toby nodded his head in confirmation.

“Yeah, I had run after the ghostly Tyrone and it was only after I’d lost sight of him that I came face to face with a red crack, which I unfortunately fell through. And well, next thing I know I’m here. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but hey it’s post-transcendence anything’s possible.”

He had been expecting confused or even doubtful looks, but instead he was greeted by a collective sigh from the group.

“I guess Gravity Falls decided to give the Pines family a whole new mystery to solve. You up for the challenge Dipper?” said an overly excited Mabel.

“Of course Mabel, but first I have to ask Toby a few questions,” Dipper stated calmly.

“Ah, boo. Questions are boring,” Mabel said as her excitement instantly dropped.

“Anyway Toby when I first met you in the woods you called me by a different name. Who is Alcor? Is he also your guardian?”

At this Toby was instantly silenced. He had been told by Alcor to always call him Tyrone in public to prevent anyone from identifying him as Alcor the Dreambender. In his defense it had been an easy mistake to make as Dipper could have easily passed for Alcor’s twin.

He couldn’t let them know that his guardian was the powerful dream demon Alcor. Could he? The man had seemed to have no idea who Alcor even was, but that shouldn’t be possible. Alcor was one of the most well-known demons in the world. You didn’t even have to pick up a demonology textbook to know about him. Had he been living under a rock for the past millennium?

They had said that they were Pines, so maybe they were related to Jerry Pines. He had met Jerry a little over a year ago when Alcor on a whim had decided to take him on a trip to visit _The Stanley Pines Memorial Library_ in Gravity Falls, saying that Jerry would be Toby’s back-up guardian in case something ever happened to him. Jerry was the head librarian there, so maybe he would have some idea as to where Alcor was and what had transported him miles away from his home town. Deciding to force a change in topic, Toby finally responded to Dipper’s question. 

“He’s nobody, but have you guys heard of Jerry Pines? He is the head librarian at _The Stanley Pines Memorial Library_,” Toby said hoping to change the topic. 

His words seemed to shock everyone into silence, and confusion was plastered onto their faces. He felt the need to say something just to break the sudden silence. Thankfully though, the silence was soon broken when Stan decided to speak.

“My name is Stanley Pines, but I never heard of any Libraries being named after me. Though that is a good joke kid,” Stan said forcing a laugh. “As for a Jerry Pines the name is unfamiliar to me. You ever hear of a Jerry Pines Ford?”

“Huh, no I don’t remember any Jerry's in the family. Though perhaps he is unrelated.” Stated a somewhat distracted Ford.

“What! But this is Gravity Falls, right? The library should be here!” Toby said now worried that he would be unable to find Jerry, who was his only link to finding Alcor.

“Sillyhead, the Gravity Falls Library isn’t named after Grunkle Stan. Though he may want it to be,” Mabel said as she interjected herself into the conversation.

“Back to what I was saying earlier. Toby you said that Alcor’s nobody, but then who is Tyrone? He wouldn’t happen to be a paper clone would he?” Dipper said restarting his line of questioning.

“As I said earlier Tyrone Pines is my guardian who acts as my adoptive father. And no, he is not a paper clone. What is a paper clone anyway?” he asked visibly showing discomfort at the thought of answering even more questions that he wasn’t sure he had answers for.

“That’s not important. Now on to the next question. What is…?”

“Bzzt, times up. Lunch first, questions later,” Mabel said interrupting her brother.

“What, but Mabel I still had questions left,” Dipper said in a frustrated tone.

“Any and all questions can wait until after our stomachs are full, and my stomach says that it’s time to eat.” Mabel said as she gave a helpful wink to Toby.

Had she noticed my discomfort?

Sighing in defeat Dipper reluctantly agreed to Mabel’s demands and the conversation was shelved for later discussion.

“Well since you're new to Gravity Falls Toby. What do you say to getting the grand tour, starting at Greasy’s Diner for some halfway decent grub,” stated Wendy clearly not willing to take no for an answer.

Reluctantly agreeing Toby soon found himself seating the passenger seat of a car, on his way to enjoy what would probably be one of the most memorable days of his life.


	4. Hide & Seek

He stood at the threshold between worlds. This was the nexus, a place that served to connect the multiverse in a giant interconnected web. Countless paths stood before him each one seemingly identical to the last. Each path would lead him to a different universe where only the souls would remain constant between worlds. His omniscience was useless in this place, and were it not for the tag he had placed to Toby he would have no idea which path to choose. Leaving behind his world he continued forward his path chosen for him.

Reaching the end of the path he was met with a golden wall with specs of green dotting the surface. The wall stretched out in all directions in from of him with no visible entrance, but this was what he expected. The universes existed along parallel lines, side by side never touching one another, but still connected through the nexus. Were he more powerful he may have been able to force his way through the wall, but as of yet he still lacked the power to do so. So instead he looked for the crack he knew still lingered upon the wall. A crack that formed from the violent opening of a wormhole.

Wormholes are the only natural way to cross between universes and if Toby was in an alternate universe this would have been the only way he could have gotten there. Alcor knew that most wormholes close up almost instantly after opening, and that only the passage of solid matter would delay its closure. It takes an enormous amount of energy to punch a hole into another universe, and that energy leaves behind a trail to follow manifesting itself into a crack on the barrier between worlds.

Narrowing in on Bill’s soul he quickly found the crack which glowed a bright red. Digging his claws into the red crack he forced it open, reopening the wormhole that would allow him passage into the universe. Peering into the new universe Alcor at first saw only an inky blackness that soon warped and shifted into a kaleidoscope of colors. As he passed through the wormhole the colors eventually settled into familiar shapes revealing a forest filled with pine trees, the sun floating high in the sky.

Flaring out his wings Alcor landed softly on the forest floor, his demonic features being highlighted by the blood red glow of the dimensional crack behind him. Floating slightly above the ground he scanned the forest searching for any sign of Toby. As he did so he began to realize just how similar this world was to his own, recognizing this forest as the one he had passed through so often in his long life. This was the Gravity Falls forest; of that he was certain. Though unlike his own world the magic that flowed through the air was much thicker and more concentrated. Though why this was remained a mystery to him.

A frown quickly appeared upon Alcor’s face as he realized that Toby’s tag had disappeared. Not only that but Bill’s soul had become increasingly difficult for him to track down, with Alcor only being able to tell that the boy’s soul was within a hundred-mile radius. Sighing he decided to start his search for Toby at the most likely place, the Mystery Shack. That is of course if this universe even had a Mystery Shack. Still it was unlikely that Toby had gotten too far from the wormhole opening, and the Shack would be the closest to Alcor’s current location deep within the Gravity Falls forest.

It took him less than a ten minutes to reach the edge of the forest as he came face to face with this universe’s version of the Mystery Shack. The Shack was back to its old self or at least what he remembered it being over a thousand years ago, back before Stan converted it into _The Stanley Pines Memorial Library_. He did so after Ford’s suggested that it would make him more business than the current Shack, which was struggling to make money after the Transcendence made the supernatural natural. 

Floating just out of sight on the edge of the forest Dipper wondered if the Transcendence had even happened to this world yet. That would explain the thicker concentration of magic in the air, which would still be trapped within the natural barrier that at one point still surrounded his own Gravity Falls. Looking at the Shack he spotted Stan’s old car parked off to the side of the Shack and some small children’s toys left in the grass near the gift shop entrance. The Mystery Shack was back to its original self and Alcor felt like he had just stepped back in time.

“What if I have?” Alcor said as he felt the golden tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

No, he knew that this was an entirely different universe. No matter how similar this world was to his own, there was no going back from what had happened to him. His priority now was finding Toby as soon as possible, as he could only keep the wormhole open for so long. Resolving himself he stepped out of the shadows ready to face whatever laid hidden within the Shack.

********************************************************************

Toby sat on a crusty bench of the Diner that the Pines family had taken him to. Next to him sat the old man that had introduced himself as Stanley Pines. On the opposite bench sat Mabel with her twins Gladys and Finn to her left and right. In the next booth over Wendy and Dipper sat together, with Dipper claiming the window seat. Their daughter Phoebe sat in a high chair to the side of their booth. The only person missing was Ford, who according to Dipper was staying home to finish up some valuable research and would be joining them a little latter.

Looking out the window to his right he still couldn’t believe that this was the same Gravity Falls that he had visited last year. Where were all the high rise buildings and the multiple large hotels he saw the last time he was here? More importantly, where was Jerry when he needed him?

“Welcome to Greasy’s Diner! What can I get you guys? Oh! I haven’t seen you before. You new to Gravity Falls? How ya like’n it?”

Turning around Toby come face to face with the Diner’s waitress. Going by her name tag her name was Susan and she looked to be around the same age as Stanley and Ford. Her hair was pulled up into a beehive style with her face covered in heavy makeup. Her left eyelid was currently being held open by her hand as she spotted him amongst the Pines.

“Hey Lazy Susan, this is our new guest Toby who will be staying with us for a little while,” said Stanley as he roughly patted Toby on the back.

“Nice to meet ya!” said Susan as she dropped her eyelid. “So what’ll it be?”

The Pines family was quick to order their favorites, with Stan ordering burger for Toby and himself. Susan soon left after taking the orders, and with her gone Dipper immediately turned around to face Toby’s bench blurting out his questions in rapid fire succession.

“Toby earlier you mentioned the Transcendence. What is that exactly? Who is Alcor? How old are you? And why do you wear an eye patch?” asked Dipper visibly excited.

“Dipperrrrrrrrr! I thought we agreed no more questions!” Mabel said clearly annoyed as she turned around to give her brother a light push.

“What? No, no, I'm uh…just…just trying to start conversation, yeah! That's all! Um, he can totally ask questions too if he wants!” Dipper said as he attempted to defend himself.

“Nice try, kid. Your sister’s right. Let him eat first,” said Stan forcing Dipper into a temporary silence.

As much as Toby would like to agree with Mabel and Stan, Dipper’s earlier question on Transcendence worried him. No one here seemed to know a thing about the events of Transcendence.

The Transcendence changed the entire world and there was no way anyone would be able ignore its impact. So how could they not know about it? Did that crack send him back in time or something? Wait…what if it did? A bead of sweat fell down his face. If that was the case then did Alcor even exist yet, and what if he was trapped here? Breathing heavily, he began to panic.

_No, that can’t be the case! I’ll just confirm the date with Stan and he’ll prove I’m wrong._

“Hey kid don’t forget to breathe, ok?” said Stan noticing Toby’s accelerated breathing.

“Um…you wouldn’t happen to…know what…day it was?” said Toby, his breaths coming fast and quick.

“It’s Saturday, why?”

“No…what is…the year?” Toby said his panic rising.

“It’s 2029, but are you ok?” said Stan now worried for Toby’s health.

“What! But that’s…impossible…Transcendence should’ve…it should’ve…” with those last words Toby found himself gasping for breath, his asthma gripping at his lungs.

It was now clear to the Pines family that something was very wrong with Toby.

“Mommy is Toby gonna be allwight?” asked a concerned Gladys.

“Dipper, I think he might be having an asthma attack?!” Mabel said panicking.

“I’ll call an ambulance!” said Dipper as he reached for his phone his voice also laced with panic.

“Kid, you gotta breathe for us. Can you do that?” asked Stan in a calm voice.

“Does anyone here have an inhaler? We have a dude here who needs one stat!” Wendy said as she stood up to deliver her message to the rest of the people in the Diner.

Toby knew that they were trying to help, but he also knew that the only thing that could help him now would his own inhaler. Reaching into his shoulder bag that he had remembered to bring with, he pulled out his inhaler quickly using it to calm his ragged breathing. It took a couple doses, but soon his breathing was back to normal.

After seeing that the crisis had been averted the Pines family soon calmed down. Seeing that Toby was fine Dipper ended his call with the 911 operator apologizing for the false alarm. Wendy meanwhile worked to calm down Phoebe, who had started to cry upon seeing the panic that had surrounded her. Feeling responsible for the trouble that he had just caused Toby was quick to apologize. 

“I’m sorry about causing all that trouble. I should have told you I had asthma,” said very apologetic Toby.

“Mommy what’s assy-ma?” said a now curious Gladys.

“Is that what made him go all wonky?” asked Finn.

“It's when sometimes someone's lungs makes it hard for them to breathe,” said Mabel as an answer to the twins’ questions.

“Does that mean we could get it?” asked Finn.

“No, it’s not contagious. That means you two can’t get it,” she said pulling her two kids into a motherly hug.

“So what caused this sudden asthma attack?” asked Stan.

“Well, I don’t know if you guys would even believe me if I told you,” Toby said in a soft voice.

“Kid almost nothing you could say would surprise me, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that,” said Stan as the rest of the family nodded their heads in agreement.

“Ok, well you see I think this may not be my world.”

“So are you saying you’re an alien! Cool!” said an overexcited Mabel.

“What no! I just realized that no one here knew about Transcendence, even though it should have happened already. You see in my world the Transcendence happened over a thousand years ago back in 2012. It changed the whole world making demons common knowledge, and creatures that were once thought to be pure myth real. In my world it’s the year 3116 and well let’s just say that the last time I visited Gravity Falls it looked nothing like the town I saw today.”

“Doesn’t that just make you a time traveler?” asked Stan.

“It would, if people here knew about the Transcendence. You see I didn’t mention this before, but the epicenter of the events that led to the Transcendence occurred right here in Gravity Falls during the summer of 2012. If this was my world there is no way the people of Gravity Falls would not know about the Transcendence.”

“So Dipper what do you think?” asked Mabel.

“Well Mabel I never put much stock in the whole multiverse theory, but I think this confirms it,” said Dipper smiling.

“You guys believe me?” asked Toby surprised.

“Pfft, Dipper and I see stranger stuff all the time. If you say you’re from a different world, that means you’re from a different world,” said Mabel as she shrugged her shoulders completely confident in what she just said.

“Thanks, but now that I know that I’m from a different world I’m worried that I won’t be able to find my way back.”

“Well then stop your worries, cause the Pines are here help! We’ll find you a way back home, no problem!” said Mabel as she gave a helpful wink to Toby.

As she said this their food finally arrived with Susan announcing its arrival with a loud “Food!” before leaving them to eat. As Toby ate his food he found himself feeling more comfortable with the Pines family. Maybe he didn’t have Alcor, but somehow he felt that he could trust them to find him a way back home.

********************************************************************

After seeing Dipper and the rest of his family off, Ford descended into his underground lab. As much as he may have wanted to accompany them, his priority was to research the strange stones that Dipper had given him. Having now arrived in his underground lab he placed Dipper’s bag down on a table removing the stone fragments from within its depths after putting on his gloves. Placing a small magnifying glass to his eye he proceeded to examine each fragment looking for any visible abnormalities. After ten minutes of careful observation of the five fragments he was forced to conclude that the stones were just regular sedimentary rocks. Even looking at the chemical composition provided no evidence that the stones had any abnormal origins. The fragments were just simple gravel rocks with no lingering magical signature.

“Was this just a dead end?” asked a frustrated Ford.

_No, there was no way Dipper would lie to me about this. So that must mean the abnormalities I’m looking for reside back at the original point of origin._

Quickly heading over to his global anomaly scanner he narrowed the scanning radius to the forests in and around Gravity Falls. The forests were naturally teaming with a wide range of anomalies ranging anywhere from a 0.1 to a 5.0 on a 20-point scale. Realizing this Ford focused on searching for any anomalies registering above a 5.0. Finding nothing above the usual range Ford decided to check the backlog for any anomalies registering at or above a 10.0. If this was in fact a rift or perhaps a temporal crack it would have registered above a 10.0.

Eventually he found the anomaly he was looking for registered in the backlog as a 10.2 with a 7:45am timestamp in the eastern Gravity Falls forest. Though strangely enough this anomaly had disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, dropping off the map just three minutes later at 7:48am. Still this was the only anomaly he could find that would possibly match Dipper’s story on how he found the boy in the forest. Hopefully the anomaly’s location could provide him with a few more clues on how this “Toby” got here and where he came from.

After registering the anomaly’s original location on his watch Ford was about to leave his lab in search of it, when he suddenly heard the alarm on his global anomaly scanner go off, indicating that a new high level anomaly had just been detected. Looking back at the anomaly scanner Ford was surprised to see that the anomaly he had just registered in his watch was back on the map. Not only that but an even stronger anomaly was right next to it registering in an unbelievable 19.6. He hadn’t seen anything this strong in years, not since…Weirdmageddon.

“No! That can’t be right! Unless he’s back? But that shouldn’t be possible, I was sure we had locked Bill permanently in the nightmare realm with no way out,” Ford said as clutched his head in frustration.

Looking back at the scanner once more Ford felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he noticed that the impossibly high level anomaly was now on the move, and it was heading straight towards the Mystery Shack at an alarming speed. Reaching into his weapons vault Ford hefted the quantum destabilizer onto his back, his ray gun clipped to his belt. Now fully equipped Ford left his lab behind, taking the elevator upstairs to the gift shop. He would protect his family from whatever horror awaited him just beyond the Mystery Shack, even if it killed him. 

**Author's Note:**

> This story combines the Pines will be Pines AU made by SuperGroverAway and the Transcendence AU. Reviews are welcome.


End file.
